One-eyed militant: we’re behind Algeria hostage crisis

MILITANT extremist in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) Mokhtar Belmokhtar has claimed responsibility in the name of al-Qaeda for the mass hostage-taking in Algeria and called on France to halt air strikes in Mali, Mauritanian news website Sahara Media said yesterday.

“We in al-Qaeda announce this blessed operation,” Belmokhtar reportedly said in a video cited by the website.

It also quoted the jihadist as saying: “We are ready to negotiate with the West and the Algerian government provided they stop their bombing of Mali’s Muslims.”

Sahara Media did not display the video itself on its site and it was not immediately possible to verify the information.

The website has in the past received statements from al-Qaeda-linked fighters operating in the lawless Sahara. Before the Mali crisis erupted, Mauritania was one of the countries deemed most at risk from such groups and al-Qaeda’s North African wing (AQIM) is believed to have camps in its vast desert.

“We had around 40 jihadists, most of them from Muslim countries and some even from the West,” Belmokhtar reportedly said in the video.

Mauritania’ s ANI news agency had previously reported that members of Belmokhtar’ s Mulathameen brigade, whose name means “The Masked Ones”, had told it the attack was retaliation for French air strikes against the Islamist rebels who seized control of Northern Mali since last year.